"."
Hearing this, Nara clutched her chest and sat up without responding.
Tong Yingying did not seem to be waiting for an answer. She simply beckoned with her hand and walked alone toward the emergency exit.
Just as she reached the emergency exit, the smoking burly man handed her a mobile phone and said,
"Sister Tong, someone just called you."
"Who?"
"A guy named Yan Huan."
"."
Tong Yingying raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Sakuramiya Hitomi with a thoughtful expression.
Then, without saying another word, she took the mobile phone from the man and stepped into the emergency stairwell.
Watching her red-haired back view gradually recede into the distance, Sakuramiya Hitomi's constantly tense state finally relaxed a little. She hurriedly ran toward Nara,
"Nara, are you alright?!"
"Cough, cough... I am fine."
Nara sat on the ground and flashed a charming smile at Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Sakuramiya Hitomi squatted beside her, her face pale and filled with anxiety.
Just now, she truly had no other good way to save Nara.
The underground parking lot was not only exceptionally vast but also spanned three entire levels. Even if she used her superpower, the coverage of her Jiejiè could not even encompass half of a single floor, making it impossible to deploy.
Furthermore, this was Linmen, a foreign land. Sakuramiya Hitomi was merely a foreigner studying here, and she could not easily bear the consequences of opening fire in this place.
Moreover, the opposing party's identity was unknown, yet they somehow managed to acquire such long firearms in Linmen, a place with strict gun control laws...
Sakuramiya Hitomi had been so anxious earlier that she was on the verge of tears. Wiping the corners of her eyes, she panted and glanced at the bodyguards behind her, instructing,
"You lot, go check if they have left. Also, deal with the underground surveillance footage to ensure nothing leaks out."
"Yes, ma'am."
The bodyguards glanced at Nara, remained silent for a second, and then nodded before leaving, giving the two of them some space.
Sakuramiya Hitomi turned her head back to look at Nara's injuries, unable to hide the worry on her face,
"Nara, what exactly did you do before? What kind of grudge do you have with that Red-Haired Demon?"
Nara swallowed hard, rubbed her shoulder, and asked,
"Eldest Miss, you are from the Sakura Country. Have you ever heard of an underworld organization called the Black Feather Syndicate?"
"...I think I have heard of them. They were a very famous organization back home in the past."
"That makes it much easier to explain."
Nara smiled faintly, snapped her fingers, and said,
"The Feather Gang is a new syndicate founded by the son of the former boss of the Black Feather Syndicate and his wife from the Dragon Country. It is also the largest gang in Linmen.
"They primarily deal in gray-market businesses and help the Linmen Government handle troubles that are inconvenient for them to resolve publicly."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi froze slightly and began to ponder,
"The boss of the Black Feather Syndicate... I remember his name was Kuroba Junichiro. He passed away a long time ago. When he was alive, the Black Feather Syndicate frequently engaged in gang shootouts with other factions."
"We are the same; sometimes we have to solve problems with violence. We are divided into two branches based on region. The one in the south is the White Group, and the one in the north is the Black Group."
Nara held up two fingers and said to Sakuramiya Hitomi,
"The former person in charge of the White Group was the wife of Kuroba Junichiro's youngest son, Kuroba Shinya. I do not know her true name, but we all called her White Mama."
"White Mama... In other words..."
"Ah, Tong Yingying and I used to be committee members under White Mama. Tong Yingying joined even later than I did. At first, she was just a university student who traveled across the ocean from the Dragon Country to study here. She was only eighteen."
Nara sat on the ground, massaging her shoulder with a light chuckle,
"When Tong Yingying first arrived in Linmen, her farming parents could only scrape together 1,500 Dragon Country currency for her each month. In a place like Linmen, that amount of money was barely enough for one meal a day.
"She was stubborn enough not to ask her family for a single extra cent. While studying, she managed to work several part-time jobs at the same time just to support herself."
Sakuramiya Hitomi's expression became somewhat complicated upon hearing this. She glanced in the direction Tong Yingying had left and asked,
"Is the person you are describing really the same Red-Haired Demon we just encountered?"
Nara nodded and snapped her fingers,
"I was puzzled too. Anyway, I only heard this from White Mama. By the time I met her, she had already joined the gang and transformed into the first stage of the Red-Haired Demon.
"It went like this: back then, a man owed money to a casino and was fleeing everywhere. He happened to escape into her cheap rental apartment in the South Ward, and unfortunately for him, he ran right into Tong Yingying.
"We sent people to apprehend the man. But in the end, that debt-dodger, along with the dozen or so debt collectors we sent, were all single-handedly beaten to the ground by her. White Mama was absolutely astounded."
Sakuramiya Hitomi widened her eyes in sheer disbelief.
Nara spread her hands and said,
"White Mama sent someone to ask her what she did in the Dragon Country before coming to Linmen to study. Guess what she said?"
"...What did she say?"
"She said: I used to be a farmer."
"."
As Nara spoke, she held up a finger, her eyes lighting up,
"At that moment, White Mama said: Hey, I have an idea..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi said, somewhat speechless,
"Just like that, she joined the underworld with you guys?"
Nara dusted off her clothes and stood up, saying,
"Simply put, yes. Later, she became White Mama's goddaughter and the official successor of the White Group. Their bond was incredibly deep. That is exactly why she hates me so much over White Mama's death."
"...Her temper really seems terrible."
"It is already much better than before. Just now, I kept speaking to provoke her. If it were in the past, she would have kicked me to death a long time ago."
"She might just be wary of the Sakuramiya family since she does not know our full background, or perhaps she is simply curious about who took you in during your absence."
"Hmm, it is also highly possible that having a handsome man like Yan Huan by her side every day helped her step out of her past shadows."
"."
Sakuramiya Hitomi looked at Nara, the relief of surviving a disaster gradually shifting into annoyance.
Her cheeks puffed up slightly, a flush of red creeping across her delicate face,
"Nara!! If I had known, I would not have saved you!!"
"Sorry, sorry... I just did not expect that you, Eldest Miss, would actually be willing to say those things to Yan Huan for my sake. I am truly touched."
Nara flashed a charming smile, but as she smiled, she realized something and asked,
"By the way, Eldest Miss, how did you know I was here, and even rush over to save me?"
"...This morning, a woman called me. She said you were in danger and gave me this address, which is why I..."
"A woman?"
Nara blanked for a moment before realization dawned on her.
She pulled out her mobile phone, glanced at the text message from earlier telling her to run, and smiled seductively,
"I know who called you. And I bet the ones who called Yan Huan were those two."
"Those two?"
Nara looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi without answering. She merely patted her shoulder wearily and said,
"Well, regardless, I am temporarily safe for at least this month. I can return to your side and assist you, Eldest Miss."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi smiled helplessly and told Nara,
"...Hmph, I still have a massive pile of work for you to do."
"Regarding Yan Huan? Speaking of which, how are things between you two? Listening to your phone call, it sounded like your relationship is quite good."
"I-is that so?! But somehow I feel like it is not like how it was before at all... so I am a bit worried. Nara, do you think I should plant a few more cameras..."
"Absolutely... not!"
That night, in the South Ward, inside Yan Huan's rental apartment.
Because of the rain, this year's Club War had abruptly ended right around noon. The Doujinshi Society managed to scrape into the second round in exactly eighth place, causing the school's forums and various chat groups to explode in discussion.
It gave off the profound illusion of 'no one believed in you, yet you performed the best.'
Yan Huan took a shower and sat down at his computer desk, continuing his game of Angry Little Pigs.
Myau-chan materialized like a phantom and asked Yan Huan,
"Yan Huan, why did that woman this afternoon want you to call Tong Yingying and Sakuramiya Hitomi? Is there some connection between the two of them?"
Yan Huan rested his chin in his hand, his fingers effortlessly releasing the slingshot. The Golden Bomb Pig flew into the carefully designed level at an eerily precise angle, blowing those little birds to smithereens.
Having only played for a single day, Yan Huan had already cleared two-thirds of the game.
It was unknown exactly how long Spencer had been playing this game, but right now, Yan Huan's progress seemed much faster than hers.
"I still remember that woman's voice."
"Meow?"
"Myau-chan, do you remember those two subordinates of Sister Tong we ran into at her gym? One was named Bai Lu, and the other was Chi Yuan. The one who called me seemed to be that Chi Yuan."
Rubbing his chin, Yan Huan analyzed in his mind,
"On Wednesday morning, Sakuramiya's bodyguard, that Nara, came to my door and told me some things. At that time, it looked like she was being chased.
"Also, she had the exact same tattoo on the back of her neck as the one in Sister Tong's room. So I am guessing Nara used to run with Sister Tong. In that case, Chi Yuan asking me to call the two of them is highly likely related to Nara."
Hearing this, Myau-chan suddenly recalled something and spoke up,
"Speaking of which, when you fell asleep after drinking on Tuesday night, Tong Yingying answered a call, saying she would help you investigate the camera incident.
"I think I also heard her mention something about 'White Mama' and 'traitors,' meow." Hearing this, Yan Huan couldn't hold back. He looked at Myau-chan and complained,
"Then why didn't you tell me at the time? It is already Sunday, and you are only just remembering it!"
Myau-chan blinked innocently and whispered,
"I figured this matter had nothing to do with the Modifiers, meow, so I just..."
"You 'figured' again... What can that tiny head of yours possibly figure out tossing thoughts around all day? Myau-chan, this is one of your few uses. If you cannot even do this properly, I am really going to have to 'love' you fiercely."
"Meow?!"
Myau-chan blinked and glanced at the clock on the wall.
A second later, it suddenly tilted its head adorably and reminded,
"It is almost the start of a new week! Let's see what useful things we can draw this week, meow!"
"You are changing the subject again, aren't you?!"
Before a dark-faced Yan Huan could forcefully pull the black cat into his arms for some aggressive affection, Myau-chan opened its mouth and exhaled wisps of illusory golden light.
"This week we only obtained one of Sakuramiya Hitomi's fragments, meow. The Modifier is not yet ready to evolve, so..."
Seeing that it had already entered its business mode, Yan Huan could not be bothered to bicker with it. He stroked his chin and asked,
"Speaking of which, does Sakuramiya's fragment have any special abilities?"
"It seems so, meow."
Myau-chan blinked and summoned the fragment collection interface.
[Sequence Four: Maxilliped * 1]
[Effect: You will possess a higher intuition (sensitivity) toward the activation of Modifiers.]
[Collection Reward: For every additional Maxilliped Fragment collected, your perception of other Modifiers' levels, activation effects, dropped fragments, and damage states will become more acute.]
[Furthermore, each time you collect any type of fragment, you will receive one free charge.]
[You may choose to consume one charge to obtain a Random Attribute Fragment, or you may consume three charges to obtain one Attribute Point.]
Yan Huan stared at these additional fragment effects and could not help but mutter,
"There's actually something this good?"
"Meow~"
Looking at Myau-chan, Yan Huan inevitably theorized,
"Ye Shiyu and Sakuramiya's Modifier Fragments both seem to have two traits. No, wait... An Le's seems to have two as well. Why does Spencer's only have one?"
The two traits of Ye Shiyu's Modifier were the Battle Defeat CG and the ability to devour and convert other fragments into [Spider Silk].
The two traits of Sakuramiya Hitomi's Modifier were hyper-intuition and Attribute Point charging.
The traits of An Le's Modifier were strengthening the Modifier's avatar, as well as an effect that penetrated Resistance.
However, collecting fragments of An Le's Modifier did not increase effect penetration. Yan Huan suspected this was because his own Modifier lacked overly active effects.
On the flip side, although the Devil's Mind-Reading liked to cause trouble, it seemed capable of completely ignoring a Modifier Host's Resistance, reading their mind directly.
From this perspective, Myau-chan's Modifier appeared to possess the prestigious trait of 100% Resistance penetration.
The problem was that this Modifier basically had no basic attacks or active skills; it was all self-buffs.
Only Spencer's Modifier had just one known trait so far, and that was Resistance.
He wondered if keeping the Modifier passively active in a normal state counted as a trait.
"."
After observing this, Yan Huan decided to see what the rewards for this week were.
Because the Modifier had not been upgraded, Yan Huan could only perform the standard pick-one-out-of-three lottery.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
Following Yan Huan's command, the golden light shifted slightly, transforming into three clumps...
No, wait—three rewards.
But the problem was that all three items were utterly absurd. Yan Huan could barely even be bothered to read their descriptions.
One was a Level 2 [Comic Dialogue Skill].
Yan Huan had no idea what use this thing had. The only scenario where he felt it might be useful was if he failed and got locked in a basement by Ye Shiyu, where he could perform solo comic routines for himself.
The buff was: His voice would become very pleasant to hear.
Alright then.
A talent for finding joy in sorrow. If he completely failed down the line, he could at least do street performances with Myau-chan and scrape by a living by amusing the Modifier Hosts.
Another was a Level 4 [Goblin Bloodline].
It granted extreme reproductive capability, breaking all reproductive isolation barriers, while inflicting debuffs such as hair loss, constant estrus, and photophobia...
Oh, and his body would also turn fucking green!!
The final Level 6 reward was a real heavyweight.
[Reward Level: 6]
[Superpower: Animal Charm Virus]
[Usage limited to once a day, restricted to one animal target per use. Upon activation on the animal, it will trigger an intense affection toward you for 15 minutes.]
[Animals affected by you will simultaneously gain the effect of this ability, randomly infecting one other animal to develop affection for you, also lasting for 15 minutes.]
[This ability will continuously transmit in this pattern, and hosts that have already experienced the effect may still be affected by the virus a second time.]
[This chain of transmission will only completely break 24 hours after the virus's initial transmission.]
'Great. Just great...'
Yan Huan looked at Myau-chan, evidently about to enter the "loving the cat" phase.
However, Myau-chan was well-versed in this routine and immediately meowed,
"Don't rush! There's still the Devil's Treasury, meow!!"
"...I suppose you make a fair point."
Yan Huan's face darkened, and he directly chose to melt down all three of these rewards, converting them into two brand-new selections with high drop rates.
"Hehehe~"
The devil's chilling, insidious laughter echoed once more. The golden light before him abruptly dimmed, and immediately after, two tightly clenched pale hands reached out from within.
Those were two completely new reward options.
[Choice One: Devil's Spatial Teleportation]
[Three times a week. Silently recite 'Teleport' three times in your mind, then internally declare the latitude and longitude coordinates of a location, or select a marked spot on any map application, and the devil will teleport you there.]
[However, the success rate of this teleportation is only 75%. You have a 25% chance of being sent to a completely random location on Earth.]
[Choice Two: Devil's Mystic Shop]
[The devil will sell you items with miraculous effects, which can be purchased and settled in various ways.]
[The items sold in the shop can be refreshed twice a week, and every week, a free gift will definitely be placed on the shelves.]
[However, you must purchase an item every two weeks; otherwise, you will receive a permanent, random curse.]
'Sent to a completely random location on Earth...'
'Never mind being sent to another country or continent; if I could even encounter another human being, I would be thanking the heavens.'
'What the hell am I supposed to do if you send me to Point Nemo?'
"."
After pondering it over and over, Yan Huan felt that he should probably just choose the second option, the Mystic Shop.
Although he could not shake the feeling that the name sounded exactly like the scammy cash shops from Tencent games in his previous life—giving off the profound illusion of 'ancient legendary treasures now on sale for 99 Penguin Coins.'
But compared to the previous options, this one seemed like a fairly decent choice, right?
With this thought, Yan Huan silently reached out and touched one of the pale arms.
"Hehehe~"
Following Yan Huan's choice, the hand violently burst with illusory light, thoroughly swallowing Yan Huan whole.
He merely felt as if he had instantly arrived at a dark, gloomy ocean. The faint sound of crashing waves echoed around him, accompanied by a subtle, fishy scent.
In the dark seawater, a dim green light abruptly flared to life.
The next second, he saw a black-robed devil float up from beneath the water. Its robes were tangled with seaweed, and a small pink crab stood perched on its shoulder.
"Hehehe~"
The black-robed devil chuckled, and then a pink sphere of light flew toward Yan Huan.
Yan Huan froze slightly, watching as information transmitted from the pink sphere.
[Silence Ring]
[Single-use item, disappears after usage.]
[Effect: By wearing this ring and touching the body of any Modifier Host, the host's Modifier will be completely disabled and rendered unusable for one day.]
[Shop opening welfare, given for free to the family!!]
Staring at the dark green ring that had suddenly appeared on his hand, Yan Huan's pupils contracted slightly, and a gasp of astonishment burst uncontrollably from his throat,
"Holy shit!"